Certain Women
It was only 10:00, and already the party was getting dull. Dan watched Casey navigate the room like he was trying to score points in one of Charlie's video games. Ten points for wardrobe assistants, twenty for segment producers, and fifty for the people Casey actually liked. Dan didn't know how to rate the woman Casey was dancing with now.
There's no reason he should be jealous, Dan told himself, when he spotted Casey dancing with the leggy redhead with the curvy ass. Casey seemed quite taken with her, leaning in to listen as she talked - in a voice both lilting and slightly husky -- and laughing like she's just said something terribly funny. Which she hadn't. Dan could tell. He's been listening too. The bar is only a few feet away from the small dance floor.
The woman looked more concerned about being seen on the arm of a TV celebrity (if Casey could be called that) than on actually entertaining him with more than her ample, possibly silicon, charms. And really, she wasn't that pretty. Well, okay, she was. But closer observation showed Dan there was something just a little off. Her dress was just this side of tacky, and the bright orange scarf she had wrapped around her neck didn't quite clash with her hair, but it was close.
Casey didn't seem to care about any of this. Recently 'released' from the latest in a series of bad dating choices, he's out to hook up with somebody new. Anyone new, Dan thought uncharitably. Not that his best friend deserved to be alone. He didn't.
Dan would be the first to admit Casey's a great catch. Warm and witty and handsome without being plastic, he ought to have his pick of any number of women. It's just that Casey could do better than any of his recent string of dates. For various reasons that all come down to 'not being Dan Rydell', none of them were quite right.
Dana seemed as interested in the other pair as he was, telling Dan "Don't be obvious, but check out Casey's dance partner."
"Okay, why?" He didn't tell her he'd already been watching, just like he always did where Casey is concerned. Why he should be so interested in his best friend's dating life was something he and Dana both understood, though he was grateful neither of them needed to discuss it again.
"There's something really familiar about her, but I just can't figure it out. Anyway, we need to see if she's suitable for Casey, don't we?" Dana nudged him, and raised an eyebrow. Ever since she and Sam finally got together, she'd been on an annoyingly persistent matchmaking kick.
"Let him sow a few oats, he's been married a long time, he'll figure it all out soon enough." she told him one night when a few too many drinks at Anthony's had him admitting to things he didn't want to let on. Casey had gone home with some blonde he'd met there, and Dan and Dana had stayed.
Their discussion had been enlightening. She was far less disturbed by the thought of Dan and Casey together than he'd expected. "So you'd what, hang out together all the time, finish each other's sentences, and touch each other a lot? And that would be different - how?"
"But we're in sports. That's not exactly welcoming to anything - you know."
"Dan, it's not like you'd be kissing him during that slow spot you sometimes get during the forties, right? That might be a problem. But everyone knows you guys are a team. As long as things didn't change on air, I think it'd be all right."
He felt reassured. Not that he had any intention of saying anything to his partner, but it was good to know he had someone on his side. He was a little surprised. It wasn't that long ago that everyone assumed she and Casey would get together.
She always could read minds. "You know it would never have worked out between us," she told him. "I'd just be a safer substitute for his best friend."
When Dana finally told him the big secret, he laughed. At first, he didn't believe her. "She's what?"
"She's a man."
"You mean like Sally's a man?" He looked at Dana. "This one may not be suitable, but she doesn't seem likely to screw him and then serve him his balls for supper." He knew Dana shared his opinion of the West Coast Update producer.
"No, Dan, I mean she's a guy. A transvestite, I assume. In fact, I think I know her. Him. Andrew something or other. No, Adam. Used to be in a fraternity with my brother. I think he might even have headed it, back before this happened." Dana gestured to the apparently drastically changed statuesque woman. "Anyway, Sally's a piranha."
He's pretty sure Casey - small town boy that he sometimes still is -- had no idea what he'd gotten himself into. At least, he thought that until he spied them kissing up against the hallway wall. Casey's left hand cupping her ass, and his right hand caught between them. If there's something unusual to be felt (and the lack of space would make that impossible to miss.) Casey didn't seem to be fazed.
Dan immediately revised his 'Reasons Casey Will Freak if I Tell Him How I Feel' list. Maybe his best friend isn't as vanilla as he thought.
Casey watched as Dan and Dana twirled around the dance floor. Dan's steps as well executed as his words, and Dana's as exuberant as her spirit. Even now, he was a little bit in love with her, but he knew it would never have worked out between them.
Dan was the one he really wanted, and Casey was pretty sure it was mutual. He just didn't think Dan knew that he knew. It was all a big mess, and Casey wasn't sure he was ready for the repercussions.
He'd known right away that Adina was a man, as soon as she'd approached him for a dance. He didn't think everyone else would, and hell, what could it hurt? So he said sure, and led her off onto the floor. He just wanted to make Danny jealous, anyway. If it turned out Dan knew, all the better. He might have an expanded idea about what Casey would and would not do. He might stop thinking he was a bore.
Of course he'd had no idea who Adina really was, beyond her gender. When she told him about her days in Dana's brother's frat, they both had a laugh about what a small world it was. They had a nice conversation, comparing their various connections. And then she said, "and I was in love with my best friend, too."
"Is it that obvious?" Casey was embarrassed, and a little worried. He thought he'd been discreet.
"To someone who's been there? Definitely. I don't think everyone would notice, though." She leaned in closer. "Pretend you're more into me, he's watching. Make him a little jealous."
Casey moved his hand down her - his - ass. "Like this?"
"Nice. Now dip me." Casey did. It seemed to have worked. He could see Dan glowering from ten feet away. Good.
"I don't think he knows who he's jealous about," Casey complained.
"Just wait. I think Dana's about to clue him in." They both maneuvered closer and caught a few of Dana's words, and Dan's wide-eyed response.
"Do you think he knows?" Casey could hear Dan say. Hmm. Casey pressed against Adina, making sure Danny caught that he knew just what he was doing.
"He does now," Dana answered. Casey could see Dan taking this all in. He couldn't wait for their 'morning-after' breakfast tomorrow. He and Dan had a standing date to dish about these usually boring events. "This is yet another reason why I'm convinced you're a woman, Dan," he'd teased him once. "You know more about what's going on than Natalie, and she's the biggest gossip I know."
Dan had the acting chops to pretend to be wounded. "A good journalist is observant, Casey. You should know that. And I am most assuredly not a woman." Dan looked him up and down, and Casey was a little uncomfortable at how warm it made him feel.
But now it was different. He was different. Open to new experiences, especially if they were with the one person he trusted more than anyone else on earth.
He just hoped Danny didn't own any dresses.